Kansas City

The Kansas City school district encompasses 43 schools, including 28 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 7 high schools, and 1 alternative school. The district faces significant challenges in improving academic outcomes, particularly for its most economically disadvantaged students. However, a few standout schools demonstrate that high achievement is possible even in high-poverty areas.

Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, a public magnet high school, consistently ranks among the top high schools in the state, with significantly higher proficiency rates than the Kansas City and state averages across English Language Arts, Math, and Science. Another high-performing school is Frank Rushton Elementary, which ranks in the top 40% of Kansas elementary schools and has very strong proficiency rates, particularly in Math.

However, the overall performance of the Kansas City school district lags significantly behind the state averages in proficiency rates for English Language Arts, Math, and Science. Many of the schools have extremely high rates of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating high levels of economic disadvantage among the student populations. While spending per student is relatively high, this does not seem to translate to higher academic performance. The district faces significant challenges in supporting students from high-poverty backgrounds, but the presence of a few high-performing outliers suggests there may be opportunities to learn from and replicate successful practices across the district.